Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 339
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[Page 339]
in the wind, I let go and got a bull. Having once again enquired the whereabouts of the target, I got another bull. But then the thing seemed to shift, for I didn't as much as hit the target again. However, the ladies had a horrible moment, and were overjoyed to beat a men's team from a man-o'-war. Alas! the average N.O. is probably a worse shot than anyone else, for he has hardly any range practice and his shooting is generally done with something bigger than a hand-gun. Still our hostesses and we were both pleased, so what did it matter?
In St. Lucia we had tea and tennis with the Governor, and then left for Martinique which is just across the ditch about thirty miles away. In Martinique there was more banzai and more calling on the officials. We always liked the Frenchmen, who were cheery souls and always seemed glad to see us; but the difficulties of language made things awkward, and conversation was not spirited. Still even the most diffident amongst us found their generous hospitality hard to resist.
By the way, wherever we went we had a ready method of settling who should go to anything that was on. If it were a command to attend a show which was not expected to be enlivening volunteers were called for. If none offered, the mess threw dice till the victims were secured. Contrariwise, if six officers were invited to something good, we cut to see who should stand out. So everything was fixed up amicably.
We were now due for a refit. The ship had scarcely